


Delicate

by thimble



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, 50 Sentences, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-09-04
Packaged: 2018-02-15 04:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2215890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thimble/pseuds/thimble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>01 - lucky<br/>In an alternate universe where talent is transferrable: “don’t cry, you can have mine.”</p><p>(Fifty sentences to piece their story together; or, fifty chances to get it right.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. it's not that we're scared

**Author's Note:**

> set in high school and onwards. mukkun's pov for the first half, himuro's the next.

01 - lucky

In an alternate universe where talent is transferrable: "don't cry, you can have mine."

 

02 - limit

The hoop is three meters off the ground and he makes sure to remind his opponents when they start getting hopeful ("it's a contest of height, nothing more"), but three meters stretch into miles in those final few seconds; so it's karma, nothing more, how he'll never forget that both their hopes are riding on the one shot he couldn't make.

 

03 - alarm

For most of the year he wakes up to the same thing, a soothing voice across the Pacific echoing in his sleepy ears - _Good morning, Atsushi_ \- but in the summer and least two weeks in winter it's accompanied by a kiss on each of his eyelids, his favorite routine.

 

04 - homesick

"Bring me American candy," he says instead of goodbye ("or just bring me you.")

 

05 - parallel

Muro-chin has wiped crumbs from his mouth countless times, the pad of his thumb gentle on his bottom lip; if Atsushi could rewind the clock he'd have liked to return the favor, to have caught Muro-chin's tears with his knuckles before they landed on his cheek.

 

06 - quitting

 _What a pain_ , he thinks, of the ache in his chest, none more surprised than he is to realize he cares.

 

07 - keeper

He answers honestly when Kaa-san and Nee-chan press him for details about this mysterious Himuro-kun, just to get them off his back ("sure, he's tall," "I guess he's popular with girls"); they don't ask him again, and he mistakenly thinks that's the end of it until, "why don't you invite him over for dinner?"

 

08 - blurry

Maybe his vision clouds when he glances over and remembers the locker beside his had been recently cleared out and remains unoccupied; what of it?

 

09 - corner

It doesn't work until the third (fourth, fifth) try - a twenty-five centimeter difference is a tall hurdle, no pun intended - and the way it goes Atsushi is leaning against a wall (head bent, knees sagging), damnable smirk wiped clean the moment Muro-chin manages to balance on tiptoes.

 

10 - align

They meet in the middle for almost everything - a kiss, the court, Tokyo, the world.

 

11 - pretty

"Mm, like the last box of Maibou on the shelf when the stock's run out," he muses, lapping at the powdered sugar on his fingers as Muro-chin's throat turns splotchy red for some reason; an allergic reaction to the fabric of his new shirt, perhaps, which is too bad since he'd been so excited about trying it on ("how do I look?")

 

12 - twelve

His third year jersey number is a no-brainer, as is the conclusion of his last high school match: "I'm gonna crush everybody at Winter Cup, and you'll be with me when I do it."

 

13 - devout

He fools the teachers and most of the student body with his kind demeanor but Muro-chin is far from innocent, the twinkle of his eye paired with a palm on Atsushi's knee during weekly chapel service, fingertips idly wandering over Atsushi's thigh, tracing his inner seams.

 

14 - volunteer

"Don't spoil him," is what Muro-chin's often told by their senpai, even by Masako-chin, though Atsushi doesn't recall ever asking him to; he simply showed up at basketball practice one day, foreign and fresh-faced, a forgiving smile and a lollipop to spare.

 

15 - breathe

If he closes his eyes and _really_ focuses, he swears he can still taste them: those droplets of sports drink off Muro-chin's lips, the sigh they shared afterwards, quiet and rarely so content.

 

16 - phobia

There's no reason to be afraid of heights (too ironic), insects (too tiny), or horror films (too transparent), but when he finally finds someone who will willingly explore every candy shop in Japan with him he worries, sometimes, that he might be taking that person for granted.

 

17 - heavy

"Ride on my back," he snorts upon noticing Muro-chin dragging his feet, the festival wear already taking its toll, "or I'll haul you over my shoulder for slowing me down."

 

18 - altercation

He has no quarrel with Zaki-chin, brutish and cruel with his brilliant basketball (correction: _had_ , past tense.)

 

19 - spring

The calendar, counting down to March and the seniors' graduation, tells him that their days are numbered (there are application forms on Muro-chin's desk, all of them for American universities), and still he can't make his mouth form around the words _I like having you around_ , much less _I'll miss you when you're gone._

 

20 - fever

"Stupid," Atsushi chides, merciless despite how pathetic Muro-chin is with a thermometer under his tongue, "you can't be captain of the team if you're dead."

 

21 - valiant

A year ago he would've been more selfish, stubbornly reluctant about letting him leave (airports are prime locations for begging, anyway) but part of growing up means accepting that in cases like this, _I'll wait for you_ holds more gravity than _stay._

 

22 - salt

He knows he overdid the seasoning and though he hesitates to serve it (he's better with desserts) Muro-chin refuses to let the meal go to waste; he doesn't let a grimace pass through his features as he chews and swallows in rotation, holding out his plate for a second helping.

 

23 - lens

"Atsushi, please," Muro-chin laughs, prying at his hands, "I want a wallpaper of you, not your potato chips."

 

24 - circuitry

 _Monster_ , they call him, large and lightning fast; it doesn't hurt because it's true, but Muro-chin rests his forehead on his neck when he's tired, right where the bolts should be.

 

25 - autopilot

When he is being difficult Muro-chin has a habit of saying his name, a little exasperated, a little fond, as if to express _you're unfathomable and that's fine, I won't have you any other way_ ; right now it's on cue, faithful and desperate and hard to listen to ("you're making me crazy with rage.")


	2. in some sacred place

 01 - victory

"This year," he tells Taiga, jersey number 4 laid out on his sheets, "I won't be fighting alone."

 

02 - sun

"How's the weather in California?" Atsushi wonders, voice shivering from the cold, and Tatsuya regrets that he can't be there to warm it ("lonely," he admits, poker face long gone.)

 

03 - ordinary

He's not supposed to follow them past this line, so he turns back, but there are fingers catching on his wrist, Atsushi sounding unimpressed behind him, "where do you think you're going?"

 

04 - slender

For a guy so huge in everything else Atsushi has surprisingly skinny ankles; Tatsuya takes note of this as he leans down to tie his laces for him, trailing blunt nails along Atsushi's exposed shin, smiling as he pictures Atsushi's toes curled inside his shoes.

 

05 - brand

"Did you change your shampoo?" Atsushi, flaunting his disregard for personal space and Tatsuya's patented indifference, inhales, "that's okay, I like the smell of this too."

 

06 - hurricane

He figures Atsushi must have some unspoken agreement with the wind, the way it carries his long limbs with swiftness and ease, how the breeze seems to bow deeply before his hair, asking it to dance.

 

07 - gift

The frosting is clumsily applied, the texture not as moist as the kind at the shop, and Atsushi interrupts the excuses ("they didn't have your favorite, so I thought I'd try to--") by shoving a forkful in his mouth, daring him to say another word against his creation with an ominous _itadakimasu._

 

08 - eyelash

"Make a wish," he says, which earns him a hapless _Muro-chin is so weird_ ; he laughs and blows it from between his thumb and forefinger, taking the wish for himself ('I don't want to fuck this up, this time.')

 

09 - horizon

He stands at the terminal: checking his watch, searching the arrivals for someone who towers over the crowd, waiting for America to feel like home again.

 

10 - torn

 _You're allowed to be your own person_ , Alex once told him, and Atsushi echoes it, expression unreadable as they pore over brochures, _Muro-chin should go study abroad, if he wants to._

 

11 - melody

"Ah, sorry," when he accidentally hums along to the music in his headphones, puncturing the quiet of Atsushi's room; Atsushi doesn't bother to glance from his manga, mumbling, "I don't mind" (sometimes he asks, "why'd you stop?")

 

12 - pray

In the chapel, after hours, with cheeks flushed and clothes askew, Atsushi releases what could be a sigh or a gasp; it's easy to mistake one for the other while he's knelt at the pews.

 

13 - bruise

If guilt had a color it would be purple ("save your breath; you hit like a baby"), blooming on the cusp of Atsushi's cheekbone.

 

14 - longing

His fingertips emerge coated in bright orange crumbs from the bottom of his Cheetos bag and yeah, it'd be nice if he didn't get choked up in the middle of the university cafeteria, but he's just a college student, not a miracle worker.

 

15 - degenerate

"You shouldn't pick fights," has him shaking his head, teeth still bared, knuckles still bloody, "they shouldn't have called you a freak."

 

16 - closet

By the time he realizes he'd picked up the wrong uniform sweater off the floor it's too late to run back and change; the bell has rung, so he pushes the sleeves to his elbows and pretends the hem of it doesn't drop past his thighs.

 

17 - poet

With compliments like _Muro-chin is the best_ so few and far between, he can't help but tease, "do you mean that or are you just happy I picked the raisins out of the trail mix?"

 

18 - genius

 _Is there anything he can't do_ is a persistent thought until the day Atsushi knocks on his door, complaining about the hole in his basketball shorts and demanding that Muro-chin thread the needle for him, please.

 

19 - sentiment

Atsushi doesn't have a romantic bone in his body, and despite this insisted on scooping the prettiest goldfish, thrusting the plastic bag in Tatsuya's direction, "you can name that one, I guess."

 

20 - click

Unrehearsed and against all odds, the pass sails across the court from Atsushi's hands to his, the final piece of something intangible shifting into place.

 

21 - east

"Go to bed," he says, while dawn breaks on his side of the world.

 

22 - careful

There's nothing he hates more than being treated with kid gloves, and Atsushi sidesteps that entirely by having no tact whatsoever ("are you gonna cry on me again?" he snickers after getting a higher score in Super Smash Bros, which does make Tatsuya want to smack him, but not for the usual reasons.)

 

23 - domino

He didn't fall on his ass or anything drastic like that, but the earth did spin momentarily off-kilter when he witnessed his first Thor's Hammer; _clumsy_ , Atsushi would've remarked, except no, he's not really.

 

24 - appetite

Only semantics separate Atsushi, sixteen and never been kissed, from Atsushi, recently kissed and insatiable, palm cupped around his nape to keep him from pulling away, whispering _another._

 

25 - reverse

Upon reaching the top rung of the ladder, he looks down and grins, "hey, you look cute from up here."

 

**bonus:**

 

26 - defeat

At his second and last Winter Cup he spots the thin braid he wove into Atsushi's hair for good luck and thinks, ruefully, _maybe third time's the charm._


End file.
